About me

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I live in Surrey, UK, with my wonderful partner Simon, my mischievous cat Pippin and my unashamed love of both crime fiction and musical theatre. And don’t even get me started on myVictoria Wood collection or my Golden Girls box sets!

My home kitchen

My home kitchen

In my professional life I am a Maths teacher, and now a Food teacher, having taught for almost 30 years. Teaching remains both exciting and rewarding for me and as a teacher I love to learn, especially with my cooking.

Prior to giving a food demo!

Me with our Anniversary Cake I made

Cooking has always been a significant part of my life, inspired by my gran and my mum, so to have been chosen as one of the 10 contestants on BBC1’s Britain’s Best Home Cook was an honour. You can read all about my fun exploits on the programme here.

Smoked mackerel bruschetta – BBHC

My roast lamb dinner on “Britain’s Best Home Cook”

I love all cooking; for me it is the best way to lose myself in a very happy world. In the world of cooking, though, baking epitomes total comfort for me; it’s possibly also a form of therapy for me -and it is certainly my “go to” when I want to relax.

Tamarind and ginger sticky toffee pudding

Stilton cheesecake with balsamic-roasted shallots

My world of food: often retro-inspired, but with an updated take

While I love to cook anything, I certainly have a soft spot for “retro” food, but I am also inspired by current trends IF the end result is a great plate of food that is not overly fussy.

Basically, if it tastes great, regardless of the era from whence it came, then I want to know how to make it!

spiced smoked haddock vol-au-vents

blackcurrant and mint fondant fancies

Give me a vol-au-vent bursting at the seams with a full-flavoured filling or a generous slice of a good Black Forest Gateau and I am a very happy boy.

Prawn cocktail

Black Forest gateau

While any of these might be considered somewhat naff, they really doesn’t deserve that reputation.

Reviving dishes that have either fallen out of fashion or are all but forgotten, is of great interest to me, and I always get joy when I research such dishes and make them at home.

That said, a full-on roast dinner with all of the trimmings (great veg dishes, sauces and condiments) ticks every box for me any day of the week!

Putting my twist on favourites

I love to put my own stamp on food, whether incorporating a subtle twist or going all out with a full re-working. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – but that is all part of the fun of cooking.

smoked salmon & horseradish macarons

roasted coffee shortbread biscuits

Spiced smoked haddock scones

My kedgeree-inspired tarts, which were selected by BBC Good Food Magazine as their Readers’ Recipe in their 25th Anniversary issue, are are my affectionate homage to that great dish. My recipe for these tarts can be found here.

My prize-winning spiced smoked haddock tarts: BBC Good Food Magazine

elderflower panna cotta with strawberries & Pimms

Humble ingredients, great dishes

I love how just a few humble ingredients can often be turned into something quite majestic. Using ingredients that are lying around the kitchen cupboards and the fridge, and without needing to spend hours in the kitchen, can result in great dishes. Nothing needs to get wasted in the kitchen, and this approach is one of the driving forces in my cooking.

The dishes in the photos below were all made quickly using just ingredients I had to hand.

quartet of salads using ingredients lying around

pasta with wild rocket pesto

Speedy spiced tortilla bites

Anyone for nibbles?

Buffet-type food has always excited me: there is something wonderful about grazing on a plateful of goodies and then going back for more! I love to prepare and eat food you can nibble on: canapés, platters and Afternoon Tea treats.

I would actually forego a full meal for a selection of good nibbles – as long as they keep coming!

Afternoon Tea is actually one of my foodie hobbies, and I try to fit in at least a couple each month, as well as preparing it for others. It is always a great opportunity for me to indulge in my creative side. My recipe ideas on Afternoon Tea can be found here.

Spiced lamb & pistachio rolls

Salmon sandwiches with shrimp & caper butter

tangy fruit éclairs

Mini rum babas

passionfruit macarons

Warm crab choux bites

Cooking with the seasons

Making use of seasonal produce is an important part of my approach in all of my cooking and I particularly love the challenge of finding new dishes with the produce.

Easy asparagus and chicken tart

We are fortunate to have an allotment which is a great haven. In any month of the year there is produce that can be made great use of in the kitchen – and that never fails to both excite and inspire me.

Freshly picked cucumbers

freshly picked raspberries

Tomatoes waiting to ripen

Ambitions!

I have many ambitions and wishes, which I appreciate are more like wild dreams. That said, one of my greatest ambitions – to cook on television – came true this year when I was chosen to participate in Series 1 on Britain’s Best Home Cook.

Being on Britain’s Best Home Cook was hands-down the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.

I enjoyed every moment of my time on the show, not least getting the opportunity to cook for Mary Berry, Chris Bavin and Dan Doherty. And to have Claudia Winkleman, one of my idols, bouncing around the kitchens and being a terrific support, was a real thrill.

my soda bread dough – BBHC

Making chocolate mousse on “Britain’s Best Home Cook”

Britain’s Best Home Cook – the line-up

Britain’s Best Home Cook: the judges with Claudia Winkleman (presenter)

It is probably greedy to have other ambitions after this, but I will allow myself a moment of greed! My other ambitions include:

To publish a cookery book: I create recipes all the time, of which only a small proportion are on this blog, and I have so many book ideas drafted.

I have a weakness for Reality TV and to dance on Strictly or go in the jungle are also mad dreams of so many years. Essentially a way to lose weight!!! If only they let one non-celeb person each series participate…….

All insanely daft dreams, but it is fun to dream!

Contact

Please feel free to get in touch,as I love to chat with others. I can be emailed here or contacted on social media by clicking the relevant buttons on the top right of this page.

Thank you. I am currently getting stuck back into Donna Hay’s “Modern Classics” – so hard not to cook from it. Similarly I have just re-visited Nigel Slater’s “Real Food” – a joy of a read with such a warm writing style.

I am happy to have discovered your blog because i love baking. The aroma of freshly baking bread in the oven is awesome.
Please do check my blog http://www.aromasandflavours.com which has a few attempts at baking..

I recently read your advice and description on the macaron making process. I just want to say you ought to be congratulated for the time and effort you would put in to help make it easier for others to learn from your own trials and errors. Fantastic writing skills! Great site!

I found your blog from a picture on Google images and ice just spent two hours reading through. I want to read more but I’m off to the kitchen first! I love baking for friends and family and cheerfully admit I do so excessively and is about to get much worse! I live in upstate NY now and miss the bread in England especially as bad here is quite vile. I can’t wait to try some of your recipes 🙂

Hi, thank you for following the blog and welcome. I am glad you are enjoying reading through it. Yes, baking for others can be something of an addiction! New York is one of my favourite cities in the world (a close second to London for me!) – always an exciting place to visit, not least for the theatre (a huge love of mine) and some wonderful restaurants. Philip 🙂

I’m so glad to have found your blog/website. Recipes are great and well explained. Goodluck with your bucket list of ambitions. I’m sure you will be achieving them! Please let me know when the cookbook is available – would definitely be adding it to my collection!